Migration Matters
The meeting in Tarbes, France
15th - 19th November 2018
The meeting in Tarbes was organized as a "short term exchange of groups of pupils". According to the agenda of our project, it focused on addressing migratory professions.
Prior to the meeting, each partner school took interviews from people who have to travel and stay away from home due to their occupation. During the meeting, students collaborating in international teams created 6 storyboards that derived from the synthesis of these interviews. The material related to the interviews and the storyboards is available at the "Migratory professions" link of our twinspace.
Monday, 15th November 2018
In the morning French students and teachers welcomed the meeting's participants in the school's lecture theater which was decorated with:• The "Migration Matters" exhibition with the "Archives Departementales" containing the presentation of a Migrant who came to France from one of the countries of the project's partners and who spent some time or the rest of his/her life in the French Department.
The exhibition was prepared by the French students who researched genuine documents in order to understand the reasons for the migration, the route/itinerary that migrants took and the relevance for the local history.
There was also a poster about Theophile Gautier, the person that the French school is named after. A literary man on the road… : 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872 who was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic.
Then, students and teachers divided into 2 groups. Students went for ice-breaking activities with an itinerant profession: Circus Artists in the school gymnasium, while teachers visited the historical part of our school (ancient library, the chapel…) guided by a retired history teacher.
After lunch, we enjoyed a sightseeing tour of the city guided by the French students with the topic: Tarbes’s strong military hallmark :
• Visit of The International Museum of the Hussards (military men on horsebacks)
• Marechal Foch – his native home and statue
• The Paratroopers Regiments
Tuesday, 16th November 2018
We left early by coach in order to discover a magical and majestic location atop the Pyrenees. Available to all with the cable car in La Mongie, the Pic du Midi is one of the Greatest Sites of Midi-Pyrénées to see.
Mostly, we could enjoy the visit thanks to the director and astronomer Mr Cabanac who have traveled the world at the top of the highest Observatories (such as Peru and Hawaï and who explained to us what being a scientist and a researcher involves and showed us different places and tools from the Pic du Midi.
On our way back we experienced typical itinerant professions in the mountains: seasonal cattling and food production work , • door-to-door salesmen and shepherds – sheep – cheese – transhumance. We found out that the last one refers to an old tradition that shepherds used to lead their herds of cattle high in the mountain, to green meadows for summertime while they come back to the barn down in the valley to spend the wintertime. Moreover, we met a "wooffer" from the United-States who practiced in a Pyrenneen farm.
Wednesday, 17th November 2018
In the morning students met at school and they were divided into 6 international teams in order to put their interviews together and to create topical e-books. The issue "Itinerant professions" was divided into 4 topics: "On the road to happiness: Pilgrims", "Seasonal workers" (2 groups), "Tourism", "Onboard" and "Expanding knowledge". We first had to explain what we worked on in our countries and whom we interviewed to finally get in touch with the Storyboard software online to start creating our e-books.
After lunch, we visited The Home of the Pyrenees National Park in the Villa Fould in Tarbes. This visit was a link between our topic of Itinerant professions with Monitor-Guards and shepherds, but also a hint into a coming topic of "Migration Matters" was planned for the meeting in Croatia: "Fauna and Flora". We visited the exhibition and watched 2 videos :
http://www.pyrenees-parcnational.fr/fr/videos/veilleurs-de-montagne
By the end of the afternoon, we stopped at the Conservatoire a School for Dancing and Music where we were welcomed by Mr Perpetue, the director of the institution who toured us around the building and the classes, ending with a high-quality concert by students who performed for us:
- H. Wieniawski: "a la Zingara" 3° Mouvement du Concerto op 22 by Cécile Mons violin and Aurélie Samani Piano
- Vittorio Monti : Csardas by Tristan Provost et William Bernes violins
- Bohuslav Martinu: Allegro et Andante de la Sonatine for 2 violins and piano H 198 by Cécile Mons, Lucie Zambelli* violins et Antoine Espagnet piano
- Traditional "Rumeynisher Hora " and "At the Rabbi's fest" by Cécile Mons violin and Robin Hivet* alto (viola)
- James Pedersen: "February" extract from the 4 Seasons by Tchaïkovski
- Morrisson Gigue with 8 violin players: Cécile, Lucie, William, Tristan, Alycia, Louis, Guillemette, Alexandra
This was an impressive hint into high performances and how music and musicians have traveled through times and places thus creating cultural exchanges and enrichment.
Thursday, 18th November 2018
We drove to Lourdes by coach early in the morning and we were welcomed at the Association by the President of this non-profit organization Pierre Hamon in relation to the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO-listed Santiago de Compostela and the 160th anniversary of the apparitions.
After the presentation “at the Parting of the Ways – Crossroads” which got us acquainted with Lourdes as a stop-off on St James’ Way (Camino de Santiago) as a religious Pilgrim place at the crossroads, he drove us along “the Saint Bernadette way” walking through the streets in Lourdes.
Finally, we discovered the Sanctuary and enjoyed free time around town.
Friday, 19th November 2018
First, we worked to finish our storyboards. The Internet connection was a bit tricky so it was a bit stressful but we made it! Meanwhile, some students and teachers were interviewed by our student-led school digital media "Theonet" on the Erasmus+ partnership in general and the week we spent in particular.
Then we walked to the Mayor’s CityHall where we were welcome by a City Delegation for Culture with our Headmaster. Some gifts were given to the European participants in souvenir of our city and we enjoyed a drink and some specialties together.
Back to school, international teams presented their Storyboards in the lecture theater. Each group explained how they could draw parallels and comparisons between their interviews in terms of qualities required and difficulties met for each « category » of itinerant ways of living.
We then got prepared for the "Goodbye party"! Families came as well as the associations
we worked with during the partnership: The Crirade, The Archives Departementales, The CADA in Lourdes and M. Hamon from the Camino de Santiago. Dinner was prepared by a Women’s Association aiming at integrating women coming from immigration through cooking: FIL ("Thread/Link"). The food was excellent and diverse!
A local music band "Fretswing" also entertained us before ending our night in a city Fair! The "last but not least" itinerant profession, on the road all year long to entertain cities throughout France and Europe we met!
